Hello from Beijing

Off the track and on the place I am. I have seen the future. Chongqing (locals pronounce it as Dtuntsching) is the largest and biggest city in the world. Its area is about 5 times the size of Beijing which is already large and it's got 33 million inhabitants. More about this place later on.

Today here in Bejing ends the first session of the XVIth people's congress of the chinese communist party. After visiting the forbidden city we had to wait for about 40 minutes on the side of Tianenmen for the congress to end (or go to lunch). Only then did the people's armed police allow us to cross the place. Waiting meant moving around scattered in singles and pairs. Funnily the party's anger this year is not directed against students but against Fu Lung Gong.

The congress has elected a new president, Hu Jintao, aged 59. I hear he is the youngest member of the inner circle. At 59 he is no comparison to KH Grasser, smooth operator numero uno in Au De Li but compared to Jiang Zemin he really is a youngling.

In addition to that Meeting behind closed doors in Beijing's Great Hall of the People, the 2,114 delegates to the Congress picked about 200 full and 150 alternate, or second-tier, members of the party's ruling Central Committee ahead of the closure of the five-yearly conclave. Changes? To be watched!

The BBC is 80 today. It began daily radio transmissions on November 14th, 1922 and has been entertaining and informing the nation and at least the English speaking world ever since. Wow. We watch their World News here. Very pretty anchor from either Pakistan, India or Bangladesh on Asia Watch. Interesting talks. Some of the BBC is still working.